In the field of optical communication, information is typically encoded onto a light beam through use of a modulator in order to create an optical signal that is encoded with information that can be transferred from one device to another via an interconnection device. As the need to increase the amount of information transmitted increases, the solutions that may be applicable for some environments, may not be applicable to all environments.
For example, in situations where a communications system or apparatus is exposed to harsh environmental conditions such as extreme high or low temperatures, extreme changes in temperature, exposure to high radiation levels, large amounts of shock forces or unstable environments, etc, the solutions for higher speed communication may create issues with component accuracy or reliability, among other issues.
For instance, one solution to increase the speed of information transmission is typically accomplished by using a single light source and receiver and increasing the bandwidth to the data rate needed. However, components such as a serialize/de-serialize (SERDES) device that are reliable in such environments are typically too slow to be useful for such applications.
Another technique is to use wavelength division multiplexing in a technique often referred to as dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM). However, DWDM components may have accuracy and operational issues in some high/low/changing temperature, and unstable environments, among other environmental issues. In such instances, the wavelength accuracy and/or interference between components may cause the network to have incorrect instructions or receive incorrect information, or to malfunction.
For example, due to their power consumption needs, since some DWDM components generate more heat than non-DWDM components, many DWDM components maintain their temperature through use of thermo-electric coolers (TECs). However, these components may not be suitable for environments such as a space environment, for example, where low power, high reliability, and the ability to survive shock and vibration (e.g., at launch) may be issues. Additionally, as data density is increased, the effects of radiation on the transmission of the information may increase the amount of errors in the information.
Further, optical fibers often have an amount of available bandwidth that is large enough to carry all of the information that is to be transferred, however, as the amount of information to be transferred increases, the speed of any interconnection devices between two nodes of a network that are transferring data also has to be increased to handle the increased bandwidth. As discussed above, in some environmental conditions, the increase in bandwidth and/or in the speed of the interconnection device can create reliability and/or accuracy issues with these devices.